Professor Parastou Donyai
RPS Chief Scientist

Professor Parastou Donyai, BPharm (Hons), BSc (Hons) Psych (Open), PhD, PGCertEBM, PGCertPsychTher, PGCertTLHE, PGDPRM (Open), MRPharmS, FHEA, MBPsS, is Chief Scientist for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).
As
well as being a pharmacist, Parastou has formally trained in
psychological theory and research methods. Parastou divides her time
between the RPS and King’s College London as Head of Pharmacy and
Professor of Behavioural Pharmacy, having previously worked at Reading
School of Pharmacy as Professor of Social and Cognitive Pharmacy for 14
years.
Parastou has published extensively on behavioural pharmacy,
including medication beliefs, medicines prescribing and use, and public
opinion and willingness to engage in medicines reuse. Her work also
examines how language plays a key role in communicating with patients as
well as teaching students. Her research has been funded by the Wellcome
Trust, Alzheimer’s Society, Pharmacy Research UK, Health Education
England, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
Parastou
obtained her pharmacy degree from King’s College London in 1993 and,
after qualifying as a pharmacist, returned to King’s to obtain her PhD
in pharmaceutical science. She spent time exploring careers outside of
academia including in the pharmaceutical industry, publishing,
quality assurance and pharmacy practice before being drawn back to
academia.
Passionate about Continuing Professional Development, Parastou
has undertaken additional education & training including leadership
courses run by Henley Business School, postgraduate qualifications in
teaching, therapeutics and methods, and even a further science degree in
psychology.
She has held various administrative responsibilities in academia, including leading teams of people in addition to managing a
multitude of research projects.